Hot Topics:

Opinion: Guest Opinions

Claire Levy: In support of a voluntary gun buy-back program

By Claire Levy

Posted:
12/19/2015 07:45:45 PM MST

Security was tight after a car carrying Enrique Marquez Jr. arrived at U.S. District Court in Riverside, Calif., on Thursday. Marquez allegedly bought the assault rifles used in a mass shooting that killed 14 in San Bernardino, Calif. (Nick Ut / AP)

"It is a moral outrage and a national disgrace that civilians can legally purchase weapons designed specifically to kill people with brutal speed and efficiency." So said the New York Times in a front page editorial two weeks ago.

The death by gunfire of 14 people in San Bernardino, Calif., has now brought the issue of fighting terrorism squarely up against the issue of gun violence in this country.

The specter of terrorism has led to mass government surveillance, scrutiny of library records, routine screening upon entry to public buildings, intrusive security apparatus at airports, requirements for identity cards to travel, and massive global military intervention at incalculable and irreversible human cost. Americans have tolerated intrusions on civil liberties never thought tolerable because of this foreign threat. We exhort our government to protect us with military might, foreign intelligence, immigration restrictions.

The recent gun deaths in San Bernardino appear to have been motivated by sympathy with Islamic State ideology. The instruments of death? Semi-automatic assault weapons that were legally purchased.

Now that terrorism may once again be a domestic threat, where do we turn for security? Our military cannot protect us here. Surveillance has limited use. Allow the government to read all of our email, monitor our phone calls, and attempt to divine our private thoughts, motivations and intentions? Or, as a beginning, do we enact reasonable limitations on access to the guns that produce mass carnage?

Advertisement

The United States Congress considered proposals to prevent people who are on the "no-fly list" from buying a gun. The reaction from the gun lobby was swift and sure. They point to over-inclusiveness, and lack of process to be removed. Surely, legitimate concerns over freedom of movement and the potential for ethnic or religious profiling should not peremptorily halt all discussion.

Are concerns over limitation on the ability to travel truly on a par with inconveniencing the ability to buy a gun? According to the gun rights advocates, any delay or inconvenience in being able to buy your gun of choice is an intolerable burden on freedom that strikes at the heart of our fundamental rights. Period.

But what of other issues that merit discussion? Shouldn't there be some limitation on a person's ability to purchase or own a semi-automatic weapon? Yes, there was a limited law restricting the ability to buy a semi-automatic weapon and no, the data did not demonstrate an appreciable impact on gun violence. But we must still ask whether one ought to be able to buy a weapon that can fire multiple shots in rapid succession as easily as one can buy a hunting rifle. Do we need irrefutable proof the law would prevent mass homicide before limiting access to lethal weapons that are used to kill people, not for hunting or for self-defense?

Surely if we are concerned about safety, about the daily toll of gun violence, about reducing the ability of an otherwise law-abiding person to cause carnage, and want to address these problems we must consider how to decrease the sheer number of guns awash in our society. Semi-automatic weapons are responsible for a small fraction of annual gun deaths.

People buy guns for all sorts of reasons. They may enjoy hunting or collecting or target shooting. They or a family member may have once felt a threat to their personal safety that has now passed. It may be in the closet, safely beyond reach of toddlers. For now. But if you want to rid your household of this deadly menace, what can you do other than sell it to someone else?

People are quick to point out, quite accurately, that suicide, unintentional killing, and homicides far exceed mass shootings. Fewer guns readily available in the closet, under the bed, in the trunk or dresser drawer could prevent many of these deaths.

A national gun buy-back program would allow people to dispose of guns they no longer want to be responsible for. It could reduce the sheer number of guns in circulation. And it would be voluntary.

What are the alternatives? I haven't heard any that don't change the subject to mental health or domestic violence. Addressing these difficult issues will not put a dent in the problem so long as there are more guns than people in this country.

Claire Levy is a former state representative from House District 13. She lives in Boulder.

The Boulder alt-country band gives its EPs names such as Death and Resurrection, and its songs bear the mark of hard truths and sin. But the punk energy behind the playing, and the sense that it's all in good fun, make it OK to dance to a song like "Death." Full Story